The most common questions I receive as a speaker and trainer is regarding child behavior issues. Such as: "How do I stop John Doe from hitting, or biting, or throwing chairs, or having meltdowns...?" Regardless of what the question is, my answer is almost always, "You have to start with prevention." Prevention in my opinion is always before redirection, or timeout, and especially before suspension or expulsion. Ask yourself these questions:
"Is the room arrangement conducive to the group sizes?"
"Do I have an engaging lesson plan that takes into consideration multiple learning styles and unexpected occurrences?"
"Have I taught the children routines?"
"Do I use breathing exercises and self soothing activities consistently in my circle time?"
"Do I have a designated self soothing area where students can go (of their own accord) to cool down and decompress?"
If not, I encourage you to start with these suggestions immediately. But say that you do have them all in place and you are still getting the challenging behavior. Then, you need to track what could be causing the behavior. Is the child tired, hungry, or ill. Is he/she from a broken home? Is he/she experiencing separation anxiety? Is there possible abuse? You the teacher, need to observe the student and track the behavior. I recommend a behavior log that only you and your director/principal or counselor review. By tracking and observing, you can begin to see what triggers the meltdown and find ways to prevent it.
I offer several trainings discussing child behavior:
Challenging Behavior: How to Keep Your Cool When Your Class is on Fire
Biting: How Did Jaws Get In My Classroom
Special Needs or Not Special Needs...That Is The Question!
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me at landramececonsulting@outlook.com if you have specific concerns or if you have questions about registering for any of my trainings.
